AltConf 2020 canceled due to coronavirus concerns

AltConf, the best Apple-focused conference not created by Apple, has been completely canceled for 2020 due to concerns about the current coronavirus pandemic.

Serving as an alternative to Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference, AltConf gave developers and Apple fans the chance to mingle and learn from each other without paying for a pricey WWDC ticket.

AltConf 2019 hosted its main conference in San Jose with four satellite events across the globe. The conference planned to expand to 8 cities in 2020 but those plans have been completely tabled.

“We’ve come to the conclusion that it would not be prudent or safe to put on any AltConf events in 2020. It’s been a tough call to make, but the safety of our team, our attendees, and the public as a whole is our most important priority,” said AltConf founder Rob Elkin in a blog post this morning.

What’s next for AltConf?

Apple revealed that WWDC 2020 would be an online-only event for the first time ever this year because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Unfortunately, AltConf doesn’t plan to offer an online version of its event. Elkin says the AltConf’s goal has never been to compete with Apple on the content so instead of doing a virtual conference this year, they’re starting to focus on AltConf 2021.

Events in Lisbon, NYC, Tokyo and Sao Paulo were going to be added to the satellite events in London, Paris, Berlin and Madrid. Elkin says they will continue to monitor the situation in those cities as WWDC 2020 draws closer and if there’s a safe way to hold the events at the last minute they might do it.